Region's CPAs expect little change in conditions

Some 71 percent of CPAs from the Rochester area surveyed say business conditions in New York will be unchanged in 2013, with 16 percent predicting a decline, a trade association poll found.

Some 13 percent think the business climate will be better, the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants reported last week.

Some 83 percent of CPAs in Rochester and Buffalo think conditions will decline or show no improvement in 2013, the society said. More than 63 percent of Western New York CPAs expect the unemployment rate to be flat or increase, the survey shows.

“Our local economy has not historically experienced the same peaks and valleys as many larger metropolitan areas,” Cheryl Yawman, president of the society’s Rochester chapter, said in a statement released Friday.

“Our highs do not go as high and our lows do not go as low, which results in an overall more stable business climate, housing market, etc.”

The society’s Western New York members say personal income taxes are too high in New York, and more than 81 percent say business taxes are too high, the survey found. More than 69 percent of Western New York members approve of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s economic policies, but 60 percent of CPAs polled statewide think business conditions in the state are largely the same since Cuomo took office.

The poll was conducted in October, with nearly 600 members responding online, including 71 from Buffalo or Rochester.